InBrief | Odd news 07/24/13

Published July 24, 2013 - 5:58am

Ohio woman to spend five Christmases in jail

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A central Ohio judge has ordered a woman to spend the next five Christmases in jail as part of her sentence for issuing state ID cards and driver’s licenses to immigrants who entered the country illegally.

Prosecutors say 44-year-old Betina Young, a former license agency employee, accepted payments from applicants to falsify records showing they had verified their immigration status. She has pleaded guilty.

The Columbus Dispatch reported that Judge Michael Holbrook put Young on probation Monday for five years, ordering that she spend a minimum of three days in jail each Christmas while on probation.

If she violates probation, she could go to prison for 15 years.

Swimmer to haul
2,000 pounds of bricks

ALGONAC, Mich. — A long-distance swimmer said he will go it alone when swimming 22 miles across Lake St. Clair while hauling dinghies filled with 2,000 pounds of bricks.

Jim Dreyer had planned for a support boat. He said in a statement Tuesday that logistical issues made the new plan simpler and it will “raise the bar a little higher.”

Dreyer has made direct crossings of each of the five Great Lakes.

He plans to begin his swim Aug. 5 from the Clinton River Boat Club near Algonac, and the event is to raise money and awareness for Habitat for Humanity. The swim is expected to take 30 hours and end Aug. 6 at Detroit’s Belle Isle.